Season Number 16. More entertainment, new rules, exciting prospects, look out for young talents to showcase their prowess. The Indian Premier League, globally leading from the front as the best T20 league steps into it’s 16th year and it’s party time for players all across the globe. The thrills, the one sided games, the shocks, the entertainment, a total summer vacation package awaits as we now look into the preview between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Overview:
Punjab Kings: “Yahi Punjabi Punjabi, Jhum Punjabi Machade, Dhum Punjabi Punjabi, Ho Punjabi Yeh”. The vintage song of the Punjab Kings (previously called Kings XI Punjab) still reverberates and sends a feel of dancing to it’s tunes whenever its played, but the team has not been playing to the tunes of their anthem. A team which is known for it’s auction strategy of losing the tourney in the auction table itself still continues the same trend this year too. Logos changed, captains changed, yet the same result. Another year, another hope for finishing in top 4 but it all depends on how the team performs this year. The team did not forget their old tradition of changing captains and this time it is Shikhar Dhawan, the new captain of the Punjab Kings. The team has been blown with the news of their main striker in Jonny Bairstow not taking part in this year’s IPL to keep himself fit for Ashes 2023 and ICC World Cup 2023 and has been replaced by BBL star of Adelaide Strikers, Matthew Short. The team has also not forgotten the tradition of breaking the bank for one player and this time, it is their former player in Sam Curran who has been fetched at an all-time IPL record purse of Rs. 18.50 crores. Hope he plays and performs to his tag. The team has also signed some interesting players in uncapped Vidwath Kaverappa, who’s breathing fire for Karnataka state team, Zimbabwean star Sikandar Raza. One has to wait and watch for their performance this season as usually done every year.
Kolkata Knight Riders: “Korbo lorbo jeetbo re, korbo lorbo re jeetbo re, jeetbo re, Karenge, ladenge, jeetenge, jeet jayenge jitenge, jitenge”. The Knights from the city of joy, Kolkata, had been a tad decent side except for the 2012 and the 2014 editions, where they dished and dashed the teams and went on to win the championship under the able leadership of one of the best captains of the franchise in Gautam Gambhir. Eoin Morgan did a decent job afterwards in regard to the franchise taking the baton from Dinesh Karthik and ensured the team developed from the position they were in. This year, some decent buys have been made but they don’t excite much as they were before. The team traded Shardul Thakur and Lockie Ferguson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz respectively from Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans before the auction for big amounts and then built the team in the auctions. The team made a steal deal in picking experienced and in form all rounder in David Wiese for just 1 crore and invested in the domestic buys of Narayan Jagadeesan, who would be a possible wicket keeper backup for Gurbaz and Litton Das. Shakib Al Hasan, the old horse of the franchise, was picked again by the franchise and the team made another good pick in Vaibhav Arora for Rs. 60 Lakhs. The team had a forgetful season last year by not qualifying due to lower NRR and would hope to rejig themselves this year. They have also been blown with their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer ruled out of IPL 2023 due to bulging disc issue in the back and Nitish Rana would be taking the baton from Shreyas Iyer for this edition. They are also sweating over the NOC’s for Shakib and Litton as BCB is having a thought over that. With many issues lurking them, one can expect and pray them to be stronger and prove their worth.
Injury and replacements:
- Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of IPL 2023 and Nitish Rana is the stand in captain for KKR.
- Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out of IPL 2023 and Matthew Short is the replacement for him.
- Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan are still awaiting NOC from Bangladesh cricket board to participate in IPL 2023.
- Lockie Ferguson is doubtful for playing the first match for KKR.
- Liam Livingstone is in doubt for playing first match due to injury and Kagiso Rabada will miss the first match due to national duties.
Probable XIII (including impact players):
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Bhanuka Rajapaksha, Liam Livingstone / Matthew Short, Sam Curran, Raj Bawa / Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Chahar, Sikandar Raza, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar (Vidwath Kaverappa / Rishi Dhawan, Atharva Taide / Harpreet Singh Bhatia).
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz / N Jagadeesan (WK), Nitish Rana (C), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana / Mandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, David Wiese, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav (Anukul Roy / Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora / Khulwant Khejroliya).
Interesting Facts:
- Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders have met for 30 times till date and the Head-to-Head record is 10 wins (PBKS) – 20 wins (KKR).
- Most Wickets - Sunil Narine (KKR) - 32 Wickets.
- Best Bowling Figure - Sunil Narine (KKR) - 5/19
- Shikhar Dhawan is 14 short of 150 sixes in the IPL.
- Sam Curran is 18 short of 50 wickets in the IPL.
- Arshdeep Singh is 10 wickets short of 50 wickets in IPL.
- Andre Russell is 11 wickets short of 100 wickets in IPL.
- Shardul Thakur is 18 wickets short of 100 wickets in IPL.
- Varun Chakravarthy is 8 wickets short of 50 wickets in IPL.
- Umesh Yadav is 3 wickets short of 150 wickets in T20 format.
- Umesh Yadav is 15 wickets short of 150 wickets in IPL.
- Andre Russell needs 23 runs to complete 2000 runs for KKR.
- Umesh Yadav has picked most wickets against Punjab (33).
(Credits: www.cricreads.com, www.sportskeeda.com, Cric Buzz and my dear cricket fanatic friends)
Pitch / Weather Report:
The pitch is a balanced one. Batters will have to spend some time in the middle before playing their strokes freely. Spinners may come into play in the middle overs.
The temperature is expected to hover between 16 to 23 degrees Celsius, with a 50 % chance of rain predicted. (Credits: https://www.sportskeeda.com/)
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
Date & Time: April 1st at 3:30 PM IST and local time
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Jio Cinema
Dream 11 Team:
